Yangcheng Evening News, New Express and Southern Television earlier this week released the results of a lengthy joint investigation into the tableware disinfection industry, including their discovery that the PRD is abound with illegal tableware disinfection ‘factories’, of which Guangzhou alone has between an estimated 50-60.

Different from any dirty restaurant kitchens you might have passed through on the way to the washroom where woks and pots are washed, this investigation targeted only those businesses which claim to deal in the sterilized plastic-wrapped dish sets sent to all restaurants, the kind you jab your chopsticks (also implicated) into before ripping open.

Among things uncovered by investigative reporters: exposure to “poison” in the process of disinfecting utensils and dishes in these illegal operations; sinks full of trash; washing machines covered in food residue; rats and cockroaches crawling among packaged chopsticks; powder detergent and dirty rags used for “dishwashing”. Porters, those responsible for packaging and stacking dish sets, also failed to meet basic hygiene standards of wearing masks, gloves and overalls.

“When dishes are sent to health inspectors for testing,” says one Mr. Liu, who once worked a year in one utensil-washing operation, “then they will pay attention to details: boiling water themselves, sterilizing bowls and chopsticks, passing dishes through a high-pressure dryer, ending with plastic packaging. This gets them past the test.” Liu, however, recalls regular spottings of mice and cockroaches crawling among chopsticks boxes during the night shift, even finding feces.

No health permit required for “washing bowls”

“Anyone with a business license can operate a tableware disinfection service,” said Deng Chushu, head of the Infectious Diseases and Blood Monitoring Section of Guangzhou’s Health Inspection Institute. “There are many small operations which are very spread out, it’s hard to monitor”.

Surely some such businesses do actually produce sterilized dishes, but those among the worst violators in reports this week are 康洁餐具清洁有限公司 in Guangzhou, 鑫辉餐具清洁服务公司 in Dongguan and 亮而洁餐具清洗店 in Zhongshan.